News

Anselme Payen Award to Orlando Rojas

Awarded in 2018, Rojas received the medal and honorarium at the American Physical Society's Cellulose and Renewable Materials Division 2019 Spring meeting in Florida
Orlando Rojas and the Biobased Colloids and Materials research group celebrate his 2018 Anselme Payen award for contributions to celluose research.
Orlando Rojas and the Biobased Colloids and Materials research group celebrate his 2018 Anselme Payen award for contributions to celluose research.

The Cellulose and Renewable Materials Division of the American Chemical Society awarded Professor Orlando Rojas (Aalto CHEM) the 2018 Anselme Payen Award for outstanding professional contributions to the science and chemical technology of cellulose and its allied products. The Division honoured Rojas at the annual American Chemical Society annual Spring meeting in Florida with a three-day symposium, 31 March - 2 April 2019. An awards ceremony and dinner, where Rojas received a medal and honorarium, was held on the final day of the symposium.

Through research on fundamental and applied aspects of renewable resources, Rojas supports global sustainable development. His research group Biobased Colloids and Materials uses forest-based cellulose and lignin materials in novel high-performance applications to discover alternatives to fossil-fuel-based materials. He is Director of the Academy of Finland Flagship Programme FinnCERES, which focuses on future solutions of the bioeconomy and materials research, in collaboration with partner VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. Rojas is also involved in the Academy's Centre of Excellence Molecular Engineering of Biosynthetic Hybrid Materials (HYBER).

The award is named for French chemist Anselme Payen, known for discovering the carbohydrate cellulose in 1838. This is only the second time since its start in 1962 that someone from a Finnish research institution has received the award.

For more information on the award and its history, see the Division's page: https://cell.sites.acs.org/anselmepayenaward.htm.

  • Published:
  • Updated:

Read more news

Professor Mika Sillanpää
Appointments Published:

Mika A. Sillanpää: ‘Having a couple of little black holes in the lab would be tremendously helpful’

From sidestepping the Heisenberg uncertainty principle to demonstrating quantum gravity, Aalto Professor has a habit of advancing boundaries in quantum physics
Päivi Hurttia
Awards and Recognition Published:

The MBA Alum of the Year Found Meaning Challenges in the Humanitarian Field – “I Have a Talent for Managing Crises”

The MBA Alum of the Year 2023 award has been granted to Päivi Hurttia who has pursued a career in journalism and communications, among other things. Hurttia recently returned from Ethiopia where she spent a year working at the International Committee of the Red Cross, ensuring the safety of humanitarian assistance to all regions.
Ewald Kibler pitämässä kiitospuhetta Suomen Liikemies-Yhdistykselle
Awards and Recognition Published:
Girl looking to the side with forest in background
Awards and Recognition, University Published:

Seven films from ELO Film School nominated at the Helsinki International Film Festival 2023

This year, students from ELO Film School are up for the Love & Anarchy Shorts prize at the Helsinki International Film Festival.